Make what you will of Mike Leach. He's a Renaissance man or a flake, a law school graduate-turned-football coach whose interests range from Churchill to Geronimo to the avast-ye-mateys culture of pirates.

The nation's new No. 1 team won't have to wait long to have its ranking put to a severe test. Alabama moved into the lead in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday after a 35-0 victory against Arkansas State, and the Crimson Tide's first matchup as the season's fifth top-ranked team will find them on the road Saturday against defending national champion LSU (6-2). If the season ended today, Alabama's opponent would be Texas Tech, which moved to second in the BCS after Saturday's 39-33 upset of then-No. 1 Texas. The Red Raiders passed No. 3 Penn State (idle).

The quest for the BCS national championship is as unsettled as ever with a month to go in the college football season as a Texas-sized tornado blew through the rankings. The Texas Longhorns lost their hold on the No.1 spot in the USA TODAY coaches poll, thanks to Michael Crabtree's last-second touchdown grab that gave unbeaten Texas Tech a 39-33 win Saturday night. Texas tumbled to seventh in the poll, while the Red Raiders climbed two positions to No. 3 with the national championship a realistic possibility.